Wednesday, September 20, 2017

Palantír – Lost Between Dimensions

The consistently awesome Stormspell Records
is currently unleashing yet another onslaught of worthwhile releases. One album
that stands out in this batch is “Lost Between Dimensions” from Sweden’s
Palantír. This is largely because the label specializes in thrash or traditional
heavy metal. Instead, Palantír is a power metal band in the vein of many of
Europe’s most classic groups. Rather than being a straight Helloween-worship
band, however, Palantír manages to be just a little bit different. While
nothing they do is outside the realm of possibilities for this style, the band
has a somewhat understated folk element to their melodies. The best comparison
would be to fellow Swedes Falconer, who manage to have plenty of upbeat
melodies.

Thematically, Palantír takes the fairly
common approach of writing sci-fi inspired works. They manage to capture the
other-worldly theme better than counterparts like Gamma Ray, for example, but
their music isn’t overloaded with pointless sound effects to create atmosphere.
They simply rely on keyboards in the background to complement the off-kilter
melodies. The band’s singer takes a laid-back approach; he’s certainly very
skilled but he’s rarely belting out insanely high notes. Falconer again is a
good comparison, as Palantir’s singer has a similar approach to Mathias Blad.

While the band’s style is certainly
respectable, the album doesn’t hit all that hard. No doubt this is the type of
music that is likely to improve with subsequent listens, but even after quite a
few, “War of the Worlds” remains the only standout. This is largely because it
most effectively combines the sci-fi themes with the actual musical melodies.
Nevertheless, the remaining tracks don’t feel all that memorable. This style
works for Falconer simply because of how unique they are, and because the
songwriting is exceptional. Unfortunately for Palantír, perfectly executed
instrumentation isn’t enough, and so while “Lost Between Dimensions” is good
enough for the occasional play, it is by no means a standout in the power metal
subgenre.